Ben Carson: Gun Control Will Lead to Tyranny

After last week's tragic shooting at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Ore., retired neurosurgeon and GOP presidential candidate Ben Carson says that gun-free zones draw more killers and the idea of enacting more limits on guns could lead to tyranny, USA Today reports.

"Reading people like Daniel Webster, who talked about tyranny in Europe and said it would never occur in America because the American people were armed," he says. "When you look at tyranny and how it occurs, the pattern is so consistent: Get rid of the guns for the people first so you can go in and dominate them."

Instead, in an interview with Capital Download, Carson endorsed expanding efforts to identify and treat the mentally ill before they have the opportunity to commit acts of violence. Carson also suggested arming kindergarten teachers.

"If I had a little kid in kindergarten somewhere I would feel much more comfortable if I knew on that campus there was a police officer or somebody who was trained with a weapon," he says.

"If the teacher was trained in the use of that weapon and had access to it, I would be much more comfortable if they had one than if they didn't."

In his new book, "A More Perfect Union," being published Tuesday by Sentinel, Carson outlines his political philosophy on gun control and emphasizes the fact that gun-free zones draw more attention to killers.

The gunmen "tend to pick places that are gun-free zones," Carson said. "They aren't likely to go into a place where they are likely to get shot."

And, although he's never had to use his, Carson noted that he keeps a gun himself at his home.

"If someone is, you know, threatening your life or the life of your family and you don't have ready access to the police, I would prefer to have a mechanism for protecting myself."
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After last week's tragic shooting at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Ore., retired neurosurgeon and GOP presidential candidate Ben Carson says that gun-free zones draw more killers and the idea of enacting more limits on guns could lead to tyranny, USA Today reports.